Where does the journey lead, German Middle Class? It is almost beyond debate that the middle class is the backbone of the German economy. But I have been noticing dark clouds on the horizon for a while, especially for small and medium-sized businesses (KMU), and I know I'm not the only one. An unstable geopolitical environment, global threats including climate change, pandemic, high inflation, shortages of resources and energy, supply chain disruptions, and a decline in digitalization, at least in Germany, are a few of the causes. Businesses need to be quick to respond to the current business environment, adapt, and reorient themselves in an ever-complicated, opaque, and unknowable world.
Currently, 13 percent of German medium-sized business owners and entrepreneurs are older than 65 years old, making up around half of the total. Likewise, since 2011, gewerbliche Existenzgründungen have nearly continuously declined. Automation and digitization provide crucial assistance in these times of a skills gap, a lack of qualified workers, a global financial crisis, and sharp price increases.
Unfortunately, there are sometimes a shortage of concepts in many locations when it comes to digitalization. According to the research "NextGen Manufacturing," German SMEs frequently lack a vision and digitalization strategy. What steps must be taken to prepare the significant German SME sector for digitalization? I've been thinking about this issue for a while now, and I want to support businesses as they overcome conventional thinking patterns and reclaim their ability to compete globally.
In Germany, SME s make up more than 99 percent of all businesses, fostering innovation and serving as reliable partners. In addition, SMEs account for more than half of all employment and economic output. They can only maintain their competitiveness and Germany as the production location through automation and digitization. The problem is that SMEs are much less digitally savvy than big businesses are. And what precisely about production?
The virtual and actual manufacturing worlds are gradually fusing together as a result of the digitalization of industrial production, often known as Industry 4.0. The optimization of value chains as a whole as well as individual manufacturing phases is possible through networking.
In the start of my professional career, I did, however, note that many businesses were treating automation and networking carelessly and not making the most of their potential. Huge amounts of data were frequently held in multiple enterprise software, databases, or even locally on individual PCs in a decentralized way. The manual combining and processing of data, which took a long time and was prone to error, required a lot of labor to display business outcomes and economic growth. Insufficient networking and automation lower the level of openness and information quality for efficient corporate administration.
Although the targeted adoption of digital technology is urgently required, certain business owners and managing directors face significant obstacles. It can be challenging to determine whether frequently expensive technology is appropriate and worthwhile for small and medium-sized businesses in particular because there are so many different alternatives for digitalization. The development of the company and the possibilities of the new technology must be considered, but so must the personnel and organization. It is best to take a holistic strategy that enables business-related facts, relationships, and forecasts to be made from firm data. Then and only then can specific measures be devised, started, and implemented.The digital transformation of work organization, business processes, workflows, products, and perhaps the entire business model is fundamentally important in addition to raising the level of automation.
Industrial firms should rely on innovative strength to stay resilient to the future and adaptive. Companies need to consistently boost their output, use resources and energy more wisely, and be more adaptable. This can save costs, speed up market launches, and satisfy the industry's growing desire for more customizable and diverse products. This necessitates continually improving business and production procedures. There is a need for a highly adaptable "mass production" with ever-smaller batch sizes. This can provide the best possible consumer and business partner service and strengthen the link between production and high-quality services.
When you embark on the path of digitalization with knowledgeable partners by your side, offering guidance, knowledge sharing, and an overview, the journey is far more successful. As a result, business representatives from the digital and technological sectors should get together to share knowledge and collaborate on projects. Due to my interest in digitized business models, I got the chance to learn about the German Entrepreneurship Center at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, which shares the same objective. Founders are assisted in building a strong basis for long-term, sustainable growth as part of their Master Accelerator program. Startups have connections with existing businesses, SMEs, and investors in addition to one another.
By adapting the German middle class to the digital age through individual and need-based usage of automation technologies, we will ensure the competitiveness of industrial businesses on a regional, sustainable, and, most importantly, long-term basis.
Source: https://www.focus.de/finanzen/experten/gastbeitrag-so-wird-der-deutsche-mittelstand-fit-fuer-das-digitale-zeitalter_id_188294957.html
Where does the journey lead, German Middle Class? It is almost beyond debate that the middle class is the backbone of the German economy. But I have been noticing dark clouds on the horizon for a while, especially for small and medium-sized businesses (KMU), and I know I'm not the only one. An unstable geopolitical environment, global threats including climate change, pandemic, high inflation, shortages of resources and energy, supply chain disruptions, and a decline in digitalization, at least in Germany, are a few of the causes. Businesses need to be quick to respond to the current business environment, adapt, and reorient themselves in an ever-complicated, opaque, and unknowable world.
Currently, 13 percent of German medium-sized business owners and entrepreneurs are older than 65 years old, making up around half of the total. Likewise, since 2011, gewerbliche Existenzgründungen have nearly continuously declined. Automation and digitization provide crucial assistance in these times of a skills gap, a lack of qualified workers, a global financial crisis, and sharp price increases.
Unfortunately, there are sometimes a shortage of concepts in many locations when it comes to digitalization. According to the research "NextGen Manufacturing," German SMEs frequently lack a vision and digitalization strategy. What steps must be taken to prepare the significant German SME sector for digitalization? I've been thinking about this issue for a while now, and I want to support businesses as they overcome conventional thinking patterns and reclaim their ability to compete globally.
In Germany, SME s make up more than 99 percent of all businesses, fostering innovation and serving as reliable partners. In addition, SMEs account for more than half of all employment and economic output. They can only maintain their competitiveness and Germany as the production location through automation and digitization. The problem is that SMEs are much less digitally savvy than big businesses are. And what precisely about production?
The virtual and actual manufacturing worlds are gradually fusing together as a result of the digitalization of industrial production, often known as Industry 4.0. The optimization of value chains as a whole as well as individual manufacturing phases is possible through networking.
In the start of my professional career, I did, however, note that many businesses were treating automation and networking carelessly and not making the most of their potential. Huge amounts of data were frequently held in multiple enterprise software, databases, or even locally on individual PCs in a decentralized way. The manual combining and processing of data, which took a long time and was prone to error, required a lot of labor to display business outcomes and economic growth. Insufficient networking and automation lower the level of openness and information quality for efficient corporate administration.
Although the targeted adoption of digital technology is urgently required, certain business owners and managing directors face significant obstacles. It can be challenging to determine whether frequently expensive technology is appropriate and worthwhile for small and medium-sized businesses in particular because there are so many different alternatives for digitalization. The development of the company and the possibilities of the new technology must be considered, but so must the personnel and organization. It is best to take a holistic strategy that enables business-related facts, relationships, and forecasts to be made from firm data. Then and only then can specific measures be devised, started, and implemented.The digital transformation of work organization, business processes, workflows, products, and perhaps the entire business model is fundamentally important in addition to raising the level of automation.
Industrial firms should rely on innovative strength to stay resilient to the future and adaptive. Companies need to consistently boost their output, use resources and energy more wisely, and be more adaptable. This can save costs, speed up market launches, and satisfy the industry's growing desire for more customizable and diverse products. This necessitates continually improving business and production procedures. There is a need for a highly adaptable "mass production" with ever-smaller batch sizes. This can provide the best possible consumer and business partner service and strengthen the link between production and high-quality services.
When you embark on the path of digitalization with knowledgeable partners by your side, offering guidance, knowledge sharing, and an overview, the journey is far more successful. As a result, business representatives from the digital and technological sectors should get together to share knowledge and collaborate on projects. Due to my interest in digitized business models, I got the chance to learn about the German Entrepreneurship Center at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, which shares the same objective. Founders are assisted in building a strong basis for long-term, sustainable growth as part of their Master Accelerator program. Startups have connections with existing businesses, SMEs, and investors in addition to one another.
By adapting the German middle class to the digital age through individual and need-based usage of automation technologies, we will ensure the competitiveness of industrial businesses on a regional, sustainable, and, most importantly, long-term basis.
Source: https://www.focus.de/finanzen/experten/gastbeitrag-so-wird-der-deutsche-mittelstand-fit-fuer-das-digitale-zeitalter_id_188294957.html
Do not hesitate and get in touch with us today to explore exciting opportunities for digital collaborations
